A South Shore trucking company is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of maple syrup.
Some determined thieves hit a small jackpot when they made off with 20,000 litres of maple syrup on Sunday night.
They broke through the hardened locks at a Dorval warehouse and came across a shipping container loaded with syrup.
The stolen syrup is valued at $150,000. At $1200 a barrel it’s 25 times more valuable than oil so it’s no wonder thieves were attracted to the container filled with maple syrup.
The syrup was picked up in the Eastern Townships last Thursday but the shipment was delayed so it was temporarily parked at a facility in Dorval.
“It contained 20 skids of maple syrup I think they were bottles of one-litre and Kirkland brand obviously destined for Costco," said Alfred Monaco, Vice-president of the shipping firm Mexuscan Cargo.
According to Monaco the yard is fenced and has good lighting and security cameras. A lock was placed on the trailer’s pin to prevent someone from hauling it away.
After leaving with the container thieves drove it to St-Laurent. They emptied it and all police were able to recover was the empty container.
Monaco said insurance will not cover the full amount of what was stolen.
"The cargo is insured but in shipping the cargo insurance covers about $2 a pound, so this is 45,000 lbs, and insurance will cover up to $90,000," said Monaco.
Mexuscan will still have to pay a $50,000 deductible, and pay the company that owned the syrup -- Costco -- the balance of the price.
"We'd be losing $60,000."
As a result the decision to offer a reward was a no-brainer.
"$10,000 is not much compared to the value of the goods," said Monaco.
The thieves were apparently very careful in covering their tracks and not leaving evidence behind.
It's not the first time thieves have gone after the precious commodity.The largest maple syrup theft in history happened five years ago, when thieves tapped into the maple syrup reserve and over several months absconded with 9,500 barrels of maple syrup worth $20 million.
Dozens of people were arrested and charged, including one of the guards at the warehouse.
Quebec produces 72 per cent of the world’s maple syrup.
Quotas are being raised to try to meet the growing demand but maple syrup is still a hot commodity.
"If you look at the export of maple syrup from Canada to other countries it's always rising, I'd say the fifth year in a row where packers in Canada are exporting more and more product to Europe, Japan and the United States," said Simon Trepanier from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.
